The Early Years
by mollysarthur
Summary: Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett are beginning their first year together at Hogwarts. Arthur is immediately fond of Ms. Prewett.
1. First Train ride to Hogwarts

It was Arthur's first day at Hogwarts, quite an exciting morning  
so far. His mother had been yelling at him to hurry and get ready  
so that they could hurry to get to the train station. Stashing an  
assortment of clothes, notebooks, and quills in his trunk. Finally, a  
few minutes later, he was at Platform 9 and 3/4; saying his  
farewells to his parents, he entered the train to find a place  
to sit.

Molly was a little worried about beginning her first year of Hogwarts,   
especially since the only people she knew were her older twin brothers,  
Fabian and Gideon who enjoyed causing trouble. She sighed as they  
led her to an empty compartment, stowed her trunk for her, and then  
left to find their friends. Knowing it would be a long ride; she dug  
out a paperback book from her pack and began reading.

Walking by all the compartments, he noticed that they were almost  
all full. He felt foolish for being so untimely now. Then Arthur  
noticed one compartment with a red-headed girl sitting in it reading  
a book; he watched for a while, but didn't want to impose so he noticed  
the compartment next to hers with a few boys sitting together discussing   
the professors at Hogwarts this semester. He decided to join them instead.

Molly was halfway through her book when the trolley came around  
for lunch, and she purchased her favorite type of chocolate and a box  
of Every Flavor Beans. After settling herself with her newly  
acquired snacks, she picked up where she left off, extremely happy  
with herself for thinking ahead, as no one had joined her in her   
compartment, but she was more than happy to spend the train ride   
in silence, reading the works of T.H. White.

Arthur had fit in perfectly with the other boys in the  
compartment, and after chatting about something random and  
humorous, Arthur let out a loud obnoxious laugh.

Molly looked up when a loud laugh penetrated her compartment,  
and she decided to find out what was so funny. She marked her  
page, slipped out of her compartment and followed the sound of  
laughter. It turned out it was coming from the compartment next  
to hers, and she burst in. "What is so funny? I'm trying to read,  
and your loud laughter is distracting me." She stated, crossing  
her arms over her chest, surveying the compartment full of boys.

The other boys just stared at her, while Arthur smirked and scoffed  
at her. He stood up, and walked over towards Molly, he then put  
one arm on the compartment door frame and stood right in front  
of Molly, and said in a slightly obnoxious voice, "And just what  
do you intend on doing about it?"

"Hmm... I don't know..." she said, returning his attitude,  
placing a forefinger on her cheek and tilting her head. "Could  
you at least try to keep down? I'm in the middle of a rather  
enticing King Arthur tale."

"Sure, anything for you, love," Arthur said, giving her a wink.

Molly rolled her eyes and scoffed at his comment. "Don't call me  
'love'. Last time I checked I wasn't dating you, Mr..." she  
trailed off, realizing she didn't know his name.

This time Arthur smiled, "Weasley. Arthur Weasley." Then he  
put his hands on Molly's shoulders, "All right, I'll promise to  
quiet down, _love_, under one condition." He turned around

winks at one of the guys behind him named Frank who in turn shook his  
head, then turning back to look at Molly, "If you let me sit  
next to you in your compartment. Actually, I'm quite fond of  
the King Arthur tales; after all, he does have my name."

Molly rolled her eyes again at being called 'love' before she  
answered. "Well, Mr. Weasley, I believe that can be arranged,  
but I have a condition of my own. You have to read to me."

Arthur made a face, and rubbed his chin before answering. He  
put one arm around Molly, and the other hand in his front  
pocket and started walking with her towards her compartment,

"You've got yourself a deal, Ms...?"

"Prewett. Molly Prewett. Now get your arm off of me, Arthur."

She replied, opening the door to her compartment. Under her  
breath she muttered "Boys".

Arthur smiled, and watched Molly walk into the compartment. He  
paused before entering.

She sat down and cleared the area next to her of her snacks  
before noticing that he still hadn't joined her. "Well, come on,  
are you joining me or not?" She asked, becoming annoyed with him.

Arthur who had his hands in his pockets and had parked himself  
in the compartment doorway had completely forgot about the deal,  
and it wasn't until the witch with the snack trolley ushered him  
to go into the room and stop goofing around did he finally enter. He walked in, smiling at Molly, and sat himself right next to Molly so there was only an inch separating them.

Molly returned the smile and thrust the book at him, pointing  
to the spot where she was. She also decided that he wasn't half  
bad, and rested her head against his shoulder.

Taken aback for a second, Arthur just continued to smile,  
a bit nervously, and started to read from the book. He felt  
Molly rest her head against his shoulder, and stole glances at  
Molly during his reading. Once or twice getting lost because he  
had been looking at Molly, who had been looking at the pages he  
was reading from. "Um... heh, Where was I?" He stared intently  
at the words on the page.

Molly looked up at him and back at the page before pointing out  
to him where he was. "Am I distracting you, Mr. Weasley?"

Arthur slightly turned pink at this, and tried to cover it by ruffling his hair, "Oh... of course not. Why would you say that?"

Molly arched an eyebrow at him and replied, "You've gotten lost twice now, Mr.

Weasley. Is it really that difficult for you to read aloud?"

Arthur looked at Molly, before scratching his head nervously, "Honestly, I have   
no idea what you're talking about."

"Whatever." Molly said, reaching over and closing the book. "Let's just talk then, hmm?"

"Hmm... so what do you want to know, lovely Molly Prewett," Arthur smiled.

"Well, I have two older twin brothers, Fabian and Gideon, they're in fourth year and in  
Gryffindor," she began, giving him a smile. "My Dad works at the Ministry as the  
senior-something or other to the Minister, and my Mum works at St. Mungo's. My dad was a Slytherin and my mother a Ravenclaw. She and Dad aren't home much, and Fab, Gid and I are mostly left to our own devices. They're practical jokers, and insist on playing pranks on me." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I guess that's it about me, what about you? Any brothers or sisters?"

"Well...," he was about to continue when he heard one of the boys in the other compartment shout his name, Arthur got up, first excusing himself at Molly, then winked and exited  
himself from her compartment.

Molly sighed, and picked up her book again. She had been so sure he was going to be the first friend she made, but he had left, and there was no guarantee he was coming back. Setting the book aside again, she dug her robes out of her trunk and changed, knowing they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon.

Arthur popped his head in just before he had gone into the other room, smiling again at Molly, he said, "Don't you fret, Ms. Prewett; we'll see each other again." Then with that he winked, and left.

Molly smiled back at him and curled back up with her book.


	2. Sorting ceremony

All the first years were waiting outside the Great Hall to enter for  
the Sorting Hat ceremony, Arthur was with the gang of guys he had met on   
the train when he had noticed a familiar red head a few inches in front of  
him. He slowly but smoothly made his way up to her, purposely bumping into  
her a few times before greeting her, "Hello again, Ms. Prewett."

"Hello, Mr. Weasley," Molly replied, arching her eyebrow to show she  
was not at all pleased about being bumped into. She was a little upset he   
hadn't joined her again on the train, but he was nice enough, and they had a  
whole year here at Hogwarts to get acquainted. "So, what house do you think  
you'll be sorted into?" She asked politlely, wrapping a strand of hair around  
her forefinger.

Arthur shrugged a little, sliding his hands in his pockets, "I don't  
know... which ever house I get sorted into will be fine, I guess," although, he  
hoped to be in the same house as Molly; he moved a little closer to  
Molly, "What about you? Which house would you like to be in?"

Molly shrugged as well; yet, she did know what house she _didn't _want to be in. "As long as I'm not in Slytherin, I'll be fine, I think, but I really want to be in Gryffindor, so I'll be with Fab and Gid, they look out for me, y'know?"

"Gryffindor.. huh? Bravery. Chivalry. Courageous. Qualities of a Gryffindor," Arthur smiled, and at that moment, the doors of the Great Hall had opened by one of the professors, and all the scared first years started entering the hall. Arthur leaned towards Molly wishing her luck, "Good luck, Ms. Prewett."

Molly smiled and wished him luck also, and it was only a matter of moments before she was on the stool in front of the entire school, with the Sorting Hat on her head. She was surprised and pleased when she heard the Hat shout "Gryffindor!" and she gladly made her way up the Gryffindor table, where Fab and Gid were waiting for her and had made room.

Many other students were sorted into the various houses at Hogwarts, and when the Sorting Ceremony was nearing an end, and Arthur's name was called; the surly, red-headed boy made his way towards the stool and after a few seconds the hat finally decided on a booming "Gryffindor" for him. Arthur made his way towards the Gryffindor table as the headmaster was about to make his speech before the meal. Arthur winked at Molly before seating himself next to one of they boys he met on the train who had been sorted into Gryffindor as well.

Molly smiled at Arthur as he made his way to an empty seat towards the end of the table, and she found herself glad that they would be in the same house together during their time at Hogwarts. Fabian and Gideon caught her looking at him, and they questioned her as to who he was. When she had explained that she had met him on the train, they smiled and told her that they were glad she had found a friend.

After eating up a storm, and dinner was finished; all the students started making their way towards their common room. First years had to follow the house prefect to the commons; Arthur and his buddy were making their way to the group where the prefect was rounding them up.

Molly made her way to the group of first years to follow the prefect up to the common room, and as the prefect led them, she was beginning to become worried that she might not be able to find all of her classes; she hadn't known the castle was going to be so big.

Arthur left the other boys for a minute, and made his way to a confused looking Molly. Arthur politely, yet coyly said, "It's big here, huh? The castle, I mean.. it's big enough for a person to get lost in..."

"It is...maybe a little too big..." Molly replied, wringing her hands. "I might be following Fab and Gid around just to get to my classes for awhile."

"Did you get your class schedule yet," Arthur asked inquisitively, "...um, I'm just wondering that's all."

"No, I think we get them tomorrow at breakfast, but I'm not sure," Molly replied, biting her lip. She was _definitely _going to be relying on her older brothers until she was comfortable getting around the castle on her own.

"Um.., I was thinking, since we both are fairly new to Hogwarts, perhaps.. we could accompany each other to class." Arthur looked at Molly unsure of how to react.

Molly offered him a bright smile, grateful to have someone besides her Fabian and Gideon. "I think I'd like that, Mr. Weasley, then we could get acquainted, as we didn't get to on the train."

"That's just what I was thinking," Artie said, putting his arm around her shoulder, "Ms. Prewett, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Instead of pulling away, she welcomed the arm around her shoulder and her smile brightened, if that was at all possible. "I agree, Mr. Weasley."


	3. Hallow's eve

It was Halloween morning at Hogwarts, and Arthur could hardly hold in his excitement. Halloween had always been a favorite holiday of his, what with the pumpkin carvings, candy, pumpkin pie/juice. He quickly changed into his school robes, and made his way down to the Great Hall, where there were large pumpkins floating in the ceiling; it all looked quite festive. He went to grab some breakfast at the table before it was all gone, and noticed bins of candy left for the students. He went to venture forth to the candy and food.

Molly was already in the Great Hall by the time Arthur made it there, and when she spotted him, she waved him over to the Gryffindor table. Halloween was one of Molly's favorite holidays, particularly because it fell on the day after her birthday, which gave her all the more reason to eat numerous sweets. However, she had refrained from getting any candy this morning, as she knew if she did, she's have most of it gone before lunch, and she didn't want to spoil her appetite for breakfast either. After all, sugar for breakfast didn't always agree with her later in the day.

After eyeing the food, Arthur took a handful of candy and pocketed it for later, he walked over to where Molly was sitting, and winked at her, "Why, hello, Mollywobbles, mind if I sit next to you?"

Molly gave him an odd look at being called that, as she couldn't recall him ever referring to her as that before. She moved over a bit, giving him room to sit down beside her. "Of course I don't, Arthur. How are you this morning?"

Sitting down next to her, Arthur pulled out a candy from his pocket, and put it in his mouth, "I'm doing great. Halloween is a favorite holiday of mine; I remember when I was little I used to go "treak or treating" with my muggle friends, or at least that's what I think it was called. We ended up with so much candy afterwards." He took out another candy.

"Halloween is one of my favorites too, but then again, that's probably only because it's the day after my birthday and Auntie Muriel sends me a pumpkin log every year." Molly smiled as he told her about going 'treak or treating' and though she had heard of the tradition, it was still a mystery to her why people wanted to dress up just to get candy. Besides, the weather hardly ever cooperated on Halloween, at least, not in her experience.

Arthur nearly choked on the pumpkin juice, that he was drinking, "It was your birthday yesterday," he smiled coyly, "Well, Happy Belated Birthday!" Then he took some of the breakfast that was on the table, he was indeed famished since he had not eaten anything yet. "So... how old is the birthday girl now?"

Molly blushed as he wished her a happy birthday, as she was never one to like a fuss, which is one reason why she hadn't told many people what her birthday was. However, she had a feeling that if Arthur remembered, she wouldn't be able to escape a fuss next year. "I'm twelve." She replied quietly, hoping Arthur would be the only one to fuss over her this morning.

Through a mouth full of food, he said, "Ooh, same as me," he swallowed his food. He reached into his other pocket, and took out a paper rolled up like a scroll, it was a drawing that he had drawn the first few days at Hogwarts. "Here, think of it as a late birthday present." He smiled sweetly as he handed it to her.

Molly took the scroll from him and smiled brightly when she unrolled it. After admiring it for a minute, she turned her gaze back on him. "Thank you, Arthur. It looks like you're quite the artist." She hadn't expected anything from him of course, but she wasn't one to turn down gifts, and though she hadn't been aware of the fact he drew, she was touched that he would give her one of his drawings.

"No problem, I have a few more in my trunk someplace, I'll gladly show you my scrapbook sometime if you'd like, that is." Arthur engulfed the rest of the food, and drank his pumpkin juice. "Hey, Miss Molly, would you care to join me for a walk around the Grounds on this fine Halloween morning?"

"I would like that," she replied, tucking the drawing safely into her bag, before finishing off her own juice. "Of course I'll join you for a walk."

"Great!" Arthur stuffed his pockets with a few more handfuls of candy, he stood up from the bench, and then offered his hand for Molly to grab onto as she got up. "Shall we?"

Molly took his hand as she stood, but once she had, she promptly let go of it. After all, they weren't dating or anything! "Yes, we shall."

Arthur noticed how quickly Molly had let go of his hand, his heart fell a little but after all they aren't in a relationship or anything, so he shrugged it off for the moment. He didn't know what it was but he had a strong attraction to her. He barely knew her but he couldn't help smile whenever she was around. Arthur ate another candy as the two walked towards the door leading to the Grounds.

Walking around the lake...

Arthur looked up into the sky, trying to spot out the different shapes of the clouds; he enjoyed taking walks during the day especially in the company of Molly. He thought he should say something because the silence was killing him, "Soooo, does your family do anything to celebrate Halloween?"

"Not usually," she replied, following his gaze with her own towards the sky. She too liked to cloud watch, but she didn't usually do it when she was walking. "Mother and Father think we get our fill of sweets with my birthday and all."

"Ahh... I see," Arthur found a nice spot underneath a tree, and sat down. He waited for Molly to sit down before saying, "It's usually a big holiday at our house, we'll carve pumpkins, muggles love doing that. A few of my muggle friends and I would do that, and then eat so much candy. Actually, one of my muggle friends celebrates 'dia de los muertos (day of the dead)' where they make really neato skulls made completely out of sugar, and make altars with food and stuff on it for their dead relatives. It's really cool. A lot of wizards don't know what they're missing sometimes."

Molly leaned back against the tree once she had sat down, and she listened to Arthur's monologue about Halloween and 'Dia de Los Muertos". All of those traditions seemed odd to her, but then again, she hadn't been exposed to the things he had. Perhaps, it wouldn't hurt to try Muggle traditions every now and then. "You really do like Muggles don't you?"

"Of course, who wouldn't? They rely on absolutely no magic in their lives, and are for the most part, happy; they have the most interesting gadgets they use to replace magic, too," Arthur said getting excited about the subject, then realizing he might freak Molly out, he thought a change of subject might be best.

"So, now that you know my hobbies include muggle activities and drawing, what do you like to do, Molly Prewett?"

Molly only smiled while he continued to talk about Muggles and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on them after she had done so. She thought for a moment before she answered his question about her hobbies. "I like to read, and try to play pranks on Fabian and Gideon, though I never succeed."

"Oh, you don't get into much mischief, huh? But that's all right, because I don't either... sometimes, I like to sit on warm, autumn days like today and draw sketches in my sketchpad," Arthur smiled.

"No, not really." She answered, picking at the grass. "It is nice today though, and I bet you have loads of nice drawings."

"They're ok; not worthy of being an art gallery. Need more practice," Arthur smiled, he lied down on his back to gaze at the clouds again.

"I wouldn't sell yourself short, Arthur. The one you gave me looks worthy of being in a gallery." She drifted off into silence, raising her gaze to the sky as the well.

"You really think so?" Arthur inquired, no one had ever complimented him on his artwork, mainly because he hardly shows it anyone, nonetheless, he was happy that Molly liked it, "You're the first one to say so."

"Yes, I do." She replied firmly, meeting his eyes with hers. "I certainly can't draw the way you can." When he told her that she was the first one to tell him that his work belonged in some sort of gallery, she blushed. She had only been complimenting him after all.

"Maybe sometime we can compare drawings, or draw together... that would be fun, hmm?" Arthur smiled towards Molly. "Well, we've been out here for quite some time, do you want to go head back to the castle?"

She contemplated his suggestion for a moment, returning his smile. "That would be, Arthur. And yes, let's."


End file.
